Jr. Sand Lizards come up just short against ClintonCourier sports staff The Dardanelle Junior Sand Lizards made a late push Thursday, but it wasn't enough to keep their perfect record intact. Dardanelle was held scoreless until the game's final 3 minutes and fell to Clinton 12-8 in a battle of unbeatens at Keenan Field. Trailing 12-0 with 2:28 remaining, the Junior Sand Lizards finally got on the board ater a 1-yard sneak by quarterback Quayd Standridge, who then hooked up with Austin Brown fo...

RJHS East, West split volleyball matchesCourier sports staff The Russellville East and West ninth-grade volleyball teams split a pair of matches with Greenbrier and Vilonia on Monday. The East moved to 8-1 in conference play Monday with a convincing 25-5, 25-15 victory over Greenbrier. Laura "Bull" Brown was nearly unstoppable in game 1 with 18 points, including 17 consecutive at one point. She finished the game with four aces. Taylor Eshnaur had eight points in game 2, including th...

Cabot pulls away late for 32-12 win over RJHS WestBy Quinton Bagley Assistant Sports Editor Russellville's West Whirlwinds (1-3) weren't quite as blustery Thursday night as they hosted the Cabot North Junior Panthers (4-0) at Cyclone Stadium. Cabot, with its "T" offense, ran all over the West 'Winds to the tune of 32-12. "This was a heck of a ballgame," Russellville West coach Josh Edgin said. "Our kids gave tremendous effort all night. We just didn't get the job done when we needed too." As ...

East, West Lady Gales earn split with ViloniaCourier sports staff Russellville Junior High's seventh-grade volleyball teams hosted Vilonia on Wednesday, splitting four matches with the visitors. The East and West seventh-graders swept both 'B' matches but lost both 'A' matches. The East won their 'B' match 25-17, 25-18, while the West won theirs 25-20, 26-24. Vilonia took the 'A' matches 25-15, 23-25, 15-10 over the East and 25-20, 25-20 over the West. East and West also faced off earlie...

Local sports briefsCourier sports staff West 7th-graders go 1-3 in Conway The Russellville West seventh-grade volleyball team traveled to Conway on Monday and came away with a 1-3 finish against Bob Courtway and Carl Stuart middle schools. The Lady Gales lost both the 'A' and 'B' matches against Bob Courtway. The Lady Kittens won the 'B' match 25-17, 25-16 and the 'A' match 25-16, 25-22. The Lady Gales picked up their lone victory against Carl Stuart, winning th...

Russellville East keeps on rollingCourier sports staff The Russellville Junior High East volleyball team continued its winning ways Tuesday, picking up a pair of victories over Van Buren Coleman and Van Buren Butterfield. The East Lady 'Winds (6-1) defeated Coleman 25-14, 25-19 before taking down Butterfield -- which knocked Russellville East out of the Lady Whirlwind Invitational last Saturday -- 26-24, 25-20. Kelsey White paced the Lady Whirlwinds in the first game against C...

RJHS East falls in semis of Lady Whirlwind InvitationalBy Mark Burke Assistant Sports Editor Russellville Junior High East volleyball coach Cindy Williams has been pleased with what she's seen from her Lady Whirlwind squad so far. That includes Saturday during the Lady Whirlwind Invitational at Whirlwind Gymnasium. The East -- which is currently atop the standings in the Central Arkansas Junior High Conference North Division -- reached the semifinals of tournament play after breezing through pool ...

RJHS West nipped 20-14 by Bryant; West falls 25-12By Mark Burke Assistant Sports Editor Close once again. The heartbreaking-loss trend continued for Russellville East on Thursday night, as the Whirlwinds fell 20-14 to Bryant at Cyclone Stadium. The loss came just over a week after the East (0-2) dropped a 27-26 decision to Van Buren Coleman in its season opener. Coleman erased a double-digit deficit and scored the winning touchdown with just 5:16 to play. This time around, the Junior Hornets ...

RJHS West opens season with shutoutCourier sports staff The Russellville Junior High West Whirlwinds offense scored 21 points, and the defense didn't allow any. That combination gave the 'Winds (1-0) a 21-0 shutout win over Van Buren Butterfield on the road to open the season. Barrett Hughes was 7 of 10 passing for 210 yards and tossed a pair of touchdowns to help pace the West's scoring. His first was a 24-yard strike to Matt Lutz in the third quarter to give the Whirlwinds a ...

Russellville East falls 27-26 to Van Buren ColemanBy Mark Burke Assistant Sports Editor The Russellville East football team turned in a strong offensive performance Tuesday night in the season opener against Van Buren Coleman at Cyclone Stadium, much to the approval of Whirlwinds coach Rick Correia. However, the Cougars found themselves on the fortunate end of a couple late breaks and stole a 27-26 win from the East 'Winds. "We played hard and never gave up," Correia said. "We played a real g...

East tops West in battle of RJHSCourier sports staff Russellville East got the better of its Russellville Junior High counterpart Monday in volleyball action, as the East Lady Whirlwinds picked up victories of Russellville West in both the ninth- and eighth-grade matches at the RJHS gymnasium. The East defeated the West Lady 'Winds 25-23, 25-15, while the eighth-grade East girls won 25-16, 25-11 in the season opener for both teams. Courtney Coulter helped Russellville East e...

Semifinals of Babe Ruth tournament setCourier sports staff The semifinals of the 2006 14-year-old Babe Ruth Southwest Regional Tournament are set. Meridian, Miss., Nederland, Texas, Jefferson Parish, La., and Pine Bluff are the four teams still in contention entering today's action at M.J. Hickey Park. Jefferson Parish and Pine Bluff will face off at 1 p.m. today, while Meridian will face Nederland in the winner's bracket final at 4 p.m. The winner of the first game will play the ...

Runs, not rain, pour down on RussellvilleBy Mark Burke Assistant Sports Editor When it rains, it pours. And after dealing with the pouring rain Friday night, the Russellville All-Stars faced pouring runs Saturday, as Little Rock Junior Deputy defeated Russellville 18-5 in both teams' opening game of the 14-year-old Babe Ruth Southwest Regional Tournament at M.J. Hickey Park. The game -- which was originally scheduled for Friday night but was postponed until Saturday due to the weathe...

Babe Ruth baseball returns to RussellvilleTHE COURIER / Danny Scott Russellville is fast becoming a popular destination for Babe Ruth baseball. One year after hosting the 10-year-old Babe Ruth / Cal Ripken World Series and less than a month after hosting the 16-year-old state tournament, M.J. Hickey Park will welcome the best teams from Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi for the 2006 14-year-old Babe Ruth Regional Tournament that begins Friday. The event is a culmination of a ...

Russellville bows out of Babe Ruth tourneyBy Mark Burke Assistant Sports Editor The Russellville Senior Babe Ruth baseball team learned the meaning of the expression "when it rains, it pours" Monday night. After being held to just three hits, Russellville dropped an 11-1 decision to Southwest Arkansas in the Arkansas-South Senior Babe Ruth state tournament at Hickey Park. The game was called after five innings due to the run rule. The loss eliminated the host team from the tournament ...

River Valley Predators open strong in TennesseeCourier sports staff The River Valley Predators 12-year-old baseball team opened strong at the Supersonic American Division Tournament in Collierville, Tenn. The Predators won two games Sunday and another Monday in pool play. Elimination play is scheduled to begin today. After edging the Oklahoma Elite 2-1 Sunday, the Predators downed the Missouri Heat 10-3 later Sunday and cruised past the Humble (Texas) Rattlers 11-4 Monday. The Predators wi...

Road to Babe Ruth World Series runs through Hickey ParkBy Danny Scott Sports Editor Straight from the Press Russellville may not be hosting a Babe Ruth / Cal Ripken World Series again this year, but the road to the 2006 Senior Babe Ruth championship runs right through M.J. Hickey Park. The Arkansas-South Sr. Babe Ruth state tournament is scheduled to begin today at Hickey Park and will feature eight teams -- including Russellville -- in a double-elimination format. At stake is a spot in the region...

Hot bats don't help Cogswell in NLR tournamentBy Courier Sports Staff Russellville Cogswell Motors kept its bats hot for Saturday's tournament opener against Searcy at Burns Park in North Little Rock, but the end result was not what coach Rob Vessell was hoping for. Cogswell outhit Searcy 10-9 but lost the pool-play game 7-2. Vessell said his team did a good job of hitting the ball -- just not when it counted. "We just weren't situational hitting," he said. "We were getting guys on base, ...

Cogswell still unbeaten in zone play with winBy Mark Burke Assistant Sports Editor Scoring five runs in both the second and fourth innings and limiting Cabot to just one hit, Russellville Cogswell Motors took an easy 10-1 decision in five innings Thursday night in American Legion action. The win kept Cogswell's Class AAA Zone 3 record unblemished, as Russellville (7-4, 3-0 Zone 3) won its third straight zone game. "The guys showed up and played an outstanding game," Cogswell coach Rob Ve...

Tech to offer two summer softball campsThe Arkansas Tech softball program is scheduled to offer a pair of softball camps this summer with emphasis on hitting, pitching, catching and skills. The first camp is a two-day hitting and skills camp scheduled for July 13-14. The second, which is devoted entirely to pitching and catching, is slated for July 27-28. Both camps are open to children between the ages of 6-18 and will run from 9 a.m.-12 p.m. each day at FastPitch World. The cost ...